Austria's Infamous Incest House Just Sold

This Austrian home, where Josef Fritzl kept his daughter imprisoned for 24 years while fathering seven children by her, was recently purchased by the owner of a local strip club, who plans to turn it... (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson, File)

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The home where "Austrian incest monster" Josef Fritzl kept his daughter locked in the cellar for 24 years while fathering seven children by her may soon be used to house strippers, the Local reports. Fritzl was found guilty of murder, incest, sequestration, and 3,000 counts of rape in 2009 and sentenced to life in prison. Since then, authorities have worried the house in Austria would become a morbid tourist attraction. But reports this week say the house was purchased for a little under $172,000 by Ingrid Houska, the proprietor of a local pub and strip club.

Houska's husband, Herbert, says they plan to turn the house into apartments and "bring down the curtain" on its horrifying past, the Irish Times reports. "We have a lot of apprentices...so we need staff apartments," the Express quotes Herbert Houska as saying. He says other people have also shown an interest in moving in. "It can't stay empty forever," the Local quotes Herbert Houska as saying. "We need to bring life into it. In two years it will be a house like any other." There is one part of the notorious house that will be off limits to future tenants: The cellar where Fritzl kept his daughter prisoner was filled with cement in 2013. (Read more Josef Fritzl stories.)

i just have to comment on the architecture of that house.. ok sir, i can build that, but is there a reason why you want your house to look like a solid cement block of a prison? uhhh no reason. really - does this pass for a beautiful home in Austria? guess curb appeal is not a thing there.

Sara Lyn

Dec 6, 2016 2:49 PM CST

I'm glad they're sealing off the basement. No one should ever set foot in that torture chamber after the atrocities that occured there. Some vindication for this poor woman. I hope this offers her at least a tiny sense of closure.